The Journeys of Matt Zomerfeld
by zummerz36
Summary: An account of the various encounters of Ash Ketchum and world Pokémon Champion Matt Zomerfeld.
1. prolog

**Prolog **

The world of Pokémon. A world of wonder and mystery, from the bottom of the deepest seas to the highest point in the skies. From Kanto, to Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, and Kalos the world of Pokémon has drawn people to away from home to travel the world. At a tender age children leave their homes and travel to the lab of the regional Pokémon professor. While they are there choose one of the regional starters and leave to travel, learn, grow, and bond with their Pokémon.

Seven years ago, a young man left his home in the Kalos region to achieve his dream of being the world's greatest Pokémon master. For as long as he can remember he had been preparing for his journey. He trained his body for agility, stamina, and survival skills. When he was finally ten years old he left home to begin his journey Through the Kalos with his loyal and playful partner Chespin he traveled the region and became the champion. From there he traveled the other regions and becoming their champions. Having defeated all the regional champions, the young man was declared the world champion. Now as the world champion the young man named Matt Zomerfeld still travels the world, making new friends and finding new trials along the way.

Our story begins when Matt is seventeen and is travelling the world. He wears a black T-shirt, an open green short sleeve button up shirt, black cargo pants, black boots, a green and black jacket, and a green military style hat over his medium length blonde hair that flips up in the back. His belt had a large belt buckle and an extra strap that hung a bit lower and had a holster like assembly on his thigh his holding pokéballs. This holster was wired to a special gantlet that controls his personal computer. His rectangular shaped glasses not only allow him to see better, but also serve as a projector that projects a small screen in front of him. He wore a black fingerless glove on the other hand. His backpack had a single strap with a buckle like his belt's that went over his shoulder.

His Pokémon collection is unrivalled, with a Pokémon and a strategy for any problem. Matt is always looking for new friends in both people and Pokémon. These stories follow Matt's various encounters with his old friend Ash Ketchum, another young trainer Matt had met many years ago while traveling through the Kanto region.


	2. A chance Encounter

**Ch. 1 A Chance Encounter **

Matt was traveling through the Kanto region. He was training his Greninja in Viridian Forest. Greninja was practicing his agility and aim by jumping tree limb to tree limb and throwing water shurikens at pine cones, when Greninja suddenly missed one pine cone and the water shuriken flew into the forest and hit something.

Suddenly a swarm of Beedrill popped out of the forest. Dozens of them charged straight at them with twin needle attacks. Most of them made contact with Greninja. Greninja went down hard. Matt returned Greninja to its pokéball. Matt then threw out all of his other pokéballs. Out of those pokéballs came a Skarmory, a Lucario, a Luxray, a Drapion, and a Toxicroak. "Skarmory air slash, Lucario aura sphere, Luxray thunder, Drapion cross poison, Toxicroak sludge bomb!" Matt cried out to his Pokémon. The attacks flew out at the oncoming swarm. Several Beedrill fell from the sky, but more rose to take their place. When the new Beedrill rose, Matt's jaw dropped and he painfully stated "Oh dag it." Then several Beedrill charged. On impact Matt and his Pokémon were blasted through the trees and onto the road.

Ash Ketchum and his friends Misty and Brock were walking through Viridian Forest when suddenly, "AAAAHHHH!" A teenage boy and five strange Pokémon flew through the air, hit the ground and skidded to a halt. When Ash and company ran up to the young man, he was unconscious and his Pokémon were all cringing in pain unable to move. Then the Beedrill showed up to finish the job. Ash and his friends knew they couldn't let that happen, so they took on the Beedrill themselves.

Ash, Misty, and, Brock fought the Beedrill but they kept coming. "Agh, this isn't working," Ash complained as Pikachu shot out another bolt of thunder. "No kidding!" Misty yelled at him. "We need to fall back!" Brock yelled. "NO!" someone yelled and the group looked back. "We need to win!" Matt was on his knee, obviously in pain but powering through it. "Alright troops return," he said as he pressed a button on his pokéball holster and five beams of red light shot out at his Pokémon and they dematerialized.

Matt stood up and put up his left arm at a diagonal in front of his chest. "Poképorter activate!" he cried out. He then pressed a button on his gauntlet and the small projector on his glasses activated and a holographic screen surrounded him. He touched the screen and stroked it hard to the left. Pictures of Pokémon flew around the screen and then Matt tapped the screen six times in different places. A large button slid out of a compartment on his gauntlet and he slammed his fist into it. He punched the sky and a beam of light shot into the sky. Then a second beam shot down from the sky and into the gauntlet. Six small lights ran down a wire on Matt's arm, down his back and into the holster. His pokéballs glowed for a second and stopped.

Matt then grabbed all his pokéballs and threw them out. From them came six completely different Pokémon. From them came a Noivern, a Charizard, an Arcanine, a Torkoal, a Talonflame, and a Braviery. "Hurricane, Airslash, Heatwave, Fire blast, Brave bird, Flamethrower, let's go!" Matt cried to his Pokémon. The six Pokémon, flew and ran into battle, shooting down Beedrill by the dozens. Just as another two dozen Beedrill fell from the air, the rest of them retreated. Ash and his friends were fascinated by Matt's Pokémon. They had such power. Several of them none of them had ever seen nor heard of. Matt returned his Pokémon and returned them to their respected places in his ball holsters. Matt turned to Ash and the others and said "And that, is how it's done," with a victorious smirk. Then Matt suddenly cringed and pass out.

When Matt Woke up he found he was in a hospital room in a Pokémon center. When he tried to sit up a sharp pain shot through his body and he fell back on the bed only to make the pain worse. He removed the blanket over him to reveal his body was covered in bandages from the waist up just above his pants. Just then a Nurse Joy entered the room and noticed he was awake. "Oh you're up," she said as she helped him find his glasses. "How do you feel?" "Like I've been hit by a Tauros, where am I?" he asked. "The Pokémon center on the north edge of Viridian forest," nurse joy answered. The three young people that brought you in said you were the victim of a Beedrill attack?" Matt let out a sigh, "one miss while training and everything goes wrong. Where are my clothes?" he asked. "Oh no you are in no shape to leave!" she argued. But as she said his he slid of the bed and a pain shot through his leg. "Ooowww!" he attempted to muffle the sound. "Stop, the poison has left your leg weak and not strong enough to walk on!" Nurse Joy told him.

Matt ignored her and managed to limp over to his bag. He then pulled out two small black metal bars about 6 inches long. He connected them in a T shape and pressed a button on one of the bars and it extended and turned into a cane. Matt shifted his weight off his bad leg and onto the cane. He sighed in relief and pulled his jacket over his shoulders and slipped on his sneakers. "And where do you think you're going?" Nurse Joy questioned him. "To thank the people that helped me," is all he said as he limped out.

As he walked into the lobby he found it full of trainers. "Hey!" someone called from behind him. As he turned around he saw it was the group of trainers from the forest. They walk up to him with smile on their faces. "How are you feeling?" the youngest of the group ask. "Like I've been hit by a Tauros, and I know what that feels like," he answered with a bit of a laugh but suddenly cringed in pain from his wounds. "Perhaps we can talk in my hospital room." They all returned to Matt's room and introduced themselves.

"So Misty, you're the youngest of the Cerulean Gym sisters. I remember that badge, Daisy was so busy trying to keep her hair dry that she wasn't thinking about the battle, hahaha," Matt joked as he sat on his hospital bed. They all laughed. "So Matt what is it that you do in life?" Brock asked intuitively. "Oh I do many things, I'm a trainer, a coordinator, and a currier among other things. I also help develop new technology to ease the life of the average trainer. Take my personal computer system, it's completely portable, can be used anywhere, and it contains all the information a trainer could need," he answered. "Say Matt, We saw you return six Pokémon to your pokéballs and six new Pokémon came from the same pokéballs. How did that happen? Ash asked curiously. "That I one of my greatest discoveries, it is basically a portal Pokémon transporter system. The holographic screen you saw earlier was the selection system. I simply need to swipe through the lists and select 6 Pokémon," Matt answered. "But professor Oak always has to go and find my Pokémon to send them to me. You don't keep them in their pokéballs all the time do you?" Ash asked disapprovingly. "Hardly, in my home region I have a large complex. It consist of bio domes deigned to simulate any environment. When I select a Pokémon from the list the computer scans the bio domes for the specific Pokémon's chip I have implanted in them. Once they are found, one of special cannons installed at the top of each dome targets and fires a beam that recalls the Pokémon like when they are returned to a pokéball and transfers them to a transmitter. The transmitter sends the Pokémon's code to a satellite network that transfers it to the satellite closest to me and transmits it to me where it is transferred into the pokéball all in seconds," Matt explained. "However, I always carry six standard pokéballs that I carry my favorites in."

"So, where are you all headed?" Matt asked the group. "I'm challenging the gyms to get into the Pokémon league," Ash said enthusiastically. "I'm training to be a better gym leader," Misty said. "I'm training to be a Pokémon breeder," said Brock. "Noble goals," Matt told them. Suddenly one of Matt Pokéballs started shaking violently. "Matt, what is that?" Misty asked him. "Oh I better let Luxray out," he tried to stand up, but quickly fell back on the bed in pain. Brock stood up and handed Matt his pokéball belt. Matt thanked him and took off the shaking pokéball. "Alright Luxray come out," he said as he pressed the release on the pokéball. It opened and a beam of light shot out and a Luxray appeared, but it was no ordinary Luxray. It was a shiny. Where there was normally blue fur it was a gold like color. "Lux luxray," said Luxray as it jumped to Matt and then took a defensive position in front of him attempting to protect him. "It's all right Luxray they're friends," Matt told the intimidating Pokémon. When he heard this Luxray relaxed and sat down, a solemn look on his face. "Sorry about that. When I don't let him out of his pokéball, he gets worried something happened to me," Matt said. "You and Luxray must have been together for a long time," Ash said. "Yeah we have. Luxray was a gift from my cousin when I first started out. Although I think it may have been a practical joke," Matt said. Brock was puzzled, "What do you mean by that?"

Matt began his next story. "When I first got Luxray he was still a Shinx. He was hot headed, impulsive, and did not listen to orders. When I used him in battle he would fight how he wanted and didn't listen. The only thing that frustrated me more was the fact that he evolved into Luxio. This only made his ego grow. This cruddy relationship continued for a long time. Then, I found out his secret. A Gardevoir physically showed me what goes on in Luxio's head. When he first hatched as a Shinx he soon realized his great power. This scared the other young Shinx so they avoided him. He became angry about this and took it out on another Shinx. After realizing what he did, he ran and lived in solitude, until my cousin caught him. This experience gave me a new view of Luxio. Then it happened. We were training in the mountains, well Luxio was wrecking stuff while I tried to calm him down. Luxio accidentally blasted a rock that a group of Magmar were behind and hit them. This angered them and they attacked. Luxio tried to fight them, but it was the first time he had ever been out powered. He was blasted against a rock and gave up. Waiting to be blasted out of existence. I jump in and through him out of the way." Matt cringed, "But no without cost," he said holding his side. "I took the hit from the Magmar's lava plume attacks. I was barley holding onto life, and what I did pushed Luxio over the edge. He roared with all his might and electricity surged around him and then he started to glow. He evolved into what you see today, Luxray. He charged at the Magmar at full speed and he became enveloped in energy and I then realized what it was. It was Volt Tackle! He made a direct impact, sending all the Magmar flying over the mountain. The best part was Luxray had taken no damage from the attack." "Why would he take damage?" Ash asked. "Volt Tackle is an incredibly powerful move, but it also has an incredibly high recoil effect. However Luxray's ability is Rock Head so he took no recoil. Anyway, after that I passed out and woke up in a Pokémon center. The Nurse Joy there told me that Luxray had carried me all the way there on his back even with his own injuries. And there was Luxray all Bandaged up standing guard next to me."

"Wow," said Ash. Suddenly there was the sound of an explosion. "What was that?!" Matt said. Ash, Misty, and Brock all charged out of the room and down the hall towards the sound. When the three reached the source of the sound, they were in the pokéball storage room. There was a large hole in the wall and none other than Team Rocket were throwing every pokéball they could find into sacks. "Team Rocket!" the three trainers yell. Team Rocket realized they were seen and went through the usual rant. "So a couple Rocket Grunts ay?" someone said. It was Matt with Luxray sanding nested to him ready to pounce. "Who are you calling grunts?" Jessie questioned, taking it as an insult. Matt Smirked, "Yeah grunts. Do you know how many two man groups Team Rocket has? Hundreds, and do you know how many of them I've beat? Probably 90% of them. I'm the reason Team Rocket had to rebuild their headquarters, twice!" Matt said proudly. James asked in a little fear, "That was you?" "Yes it was. I am a full agent of the International Police, an honorary Pokémon Ranger, and the fastest currier in the world. To criminal organizations around the world I am the coming fire, the end of days and the Final end. To law enforcement I am the first, best, and final solution. I am Matt Zomerfeld, World Pokémon Campion a true Pokémon Master!" Matt stated proudly. "Luxray, Electro Ball!" Matt ordered. A sphere of electrical energy formed amount Luxray's tail. He then whipped his tail around and launched the Electro Ball at Team Rocket. The attack hit dead on and sent Team rocket flying out on to the Pokémon Center's battlefield. Matt Walked over to the hole in the wall and grabbed a pokéball from his holster and pressed the release button. An Alakazam materialized from the light that came out of the pokéball. "Use psychic and lower me to the ground," Matt Directed. Alakazam did as he was told and Luxray followed him by jumping onto a tree and then to the ground. Matt Returned Alakazam to its pokéball. "Luxray time for the Voltaic Tornado, Volt Tackle!" Matt ordered. Luxray charged and was enveloped in electricity. However, instead of charging into them, Luxray started running in circles around them at lightning speed. "Discharge with a backwards Thunder!" Matt ordered. As Luxray charged around Team rocket a steady stream of electricity formed along the ground he ran across. The electricity rose into a tall vortex. Inside the Vortex Team Rocket was cowering. "What the heck is this?!" Jessie yelled. Outside, Matt closed his eyes, smiled, and said in a calm cool tone "finish it." Luxray leaned into the vortex causing it to close at the top. When it finally did it collapsed in on itself with thousands of volts of electricity came hammering down Team Rocket. There was a blast and they went flying away yelling "We're blasting off again!" and vanished into the distance.

Luxray skidded to a halt and smiled, "Lux Luxray." "And that is power," Matt said with a prideful grin. "Matt that was amazing," said Misty. "The sheer power Luxray has is incredible," Said Brock. "Wow," was all Ash could say. "Anyone for barbeque?" Matt asked. Fifteen minutes later they were in a little Barbeque restaurant Matt knew about and they were all chowing down. "Say Matt how did you know about this place?" Ash asked between mouthfuls. "Oh, I've found all kinds of great little restaurants all over a lot of major cities. I tend to prefer eating in these hidden away mom and pop restaurants, they tend to remember a loyal customer, especially famous ones," Matt Answered. "Speaking of famous, what was with the monolog back with Team Rocket, was any of that true?" Brock asked. Matt let out a sigh. "Every last bit, I am the Pokémon World Champion." All three jaws dropped, "What?!" they all said. "Yes I am," Matt said. "Wait a minute I was there at the world championships, you don't look like him," Brock said. "That was three years ago," Matt said. "In that time I've grown six inches and had a little surgical reconstruction after an incident with a Voltorb." "Since when is there a Pokémon World Championships?" Ash asked. "Say what?!" Matt, Brock, and Misty said in unison while staring at Ash. "How do you not know about it? It's held on the first two weeks of summer," Brock said. "I think I was camping," Ash said. "For two weeks?" Misty inquired about Ashes questionable answer. Ash laughed weakly "I got lost." Matt Sighed, "Well then I'll explain it. Every four years all the gym leaders, elite four members, regional champions, Frontier Brains, and winners of the regional Pokémon leagues for the previous four years come together for the Pokémon World Championships," he explained. "So it's a big tournament?" Ash asked. "No it's what I call superiority Tournament. Basically everyone has to battle everyone once, and whoever doesn't lose once is declared World Champion," Matt explained. Ash was confused, "So you still have to battle the ones who already lost, why?" "To show you one by skill and not luck. If a water specialist gym leader beats a ground specialty elite four member the gym leader could advance in a tournament and then battles and electric specialty gym leader and loses, the elite four member could have beat the electric type gym leader. The idea is to prove you didn't win because of a type advantage. That's why they don't let you know who you are battling until you walk onto the battlefield," Matt explained. "What if everyone including the previous world champion loses at least once?" Misty asked. "The person who lost the least is declared World champion. If it's a tie the two or more who are tied compete in a smaller superiority tournament," Matt Explained. They finished eating and the owner said it was on the house since Matt was who he was.

The next day it was time to go their separate ways. They all stood outside the Pokémon center making their good byes. "So Matt where are you going now?" Brock asked him. "Well I was contacted by Professor Oak. He needs me to transport and Pokémon from a lab in another region to his lab," Matt answered. "Well tell Professor Oak we I said hi," Ash said. "Matt, you aren't going to walk all the way to Pallet Town are you? That could take you days," Misty said. Matt smirked, "Oh, I have my ways," he said as he reached for a pokéball and pressed the release. In a flash a Skarmory appeared. Matt climbed on. "Alright Skarmory, top speed to Pallet Town!" Matt cried out from Skarmory's back. Skarmory opened and raised its wings, and in one flap Matt and Skarmory were a hundred feet in the air, and with another strong flap they were gone. As Matt flew away he started thinking. "Ash Ketchum, the boy to be a master. Can't wait to see him again."

**End Chapter **


	3. Making a Splash

**Ch. 2 Making a Splash **

Ash and company had traveled to Cerulean City. Misty's Horsey had not been feeling well do to its lack of large bodies of water to swim in. So the group decided to go to Cerulean gym to let Horsey stretch its fins in the pool. However, upon arriving they found out Misty's crackpot sisters had plans of their own for Misty. They had set up an entire mermaid under water ballet show and intended to make Misty the star.

"But Misty, we already bought the costume," Daisy pleaded to Misty as they walked alongside the pool. "Then you put it on and do the show," Misty retorted as she knelt down to see how Horsey was doing in the pool. "Then we wouldn't have enough people to do the show. There are four characters not including the Pokémon," Daisy said. "Come on Misty. We even shelled out fifty grand to have a retractable roof put in for the show," she said as she pressed a switch on the wall and the roof retracted. But what they saw they didn't expect. Above them they saw a Charizard being attacked by a flock of Golbat. "Ash, Brock get in here!" Misty yelled and the boys ran in, saw Misty and Daisy looking up and looked up as well.

The Charizard banked left and climbed high. It then dropped backwards into a double loop, stopping behind two Golbat and used flamethrower. The Golbat dropped from the sky as the Charizard barrel rolled and blasted another. "What's going on up there?" Brock asked. "I don't know," Misty said. Suddenly the Charizard dived. It leveled of just above the gym. Something flew off it and landed on the roof. It looped back when there was a flash of red light as if a Pokémon was returned to a pokéball and there was a splash in the pool. The Golbat hovered over the gym looking for the Charizard. There was a beam of light that shot into the sky from the pool and everyone looked at the pool. There was a flash in the water and several pillars of water shot up out of the pool soaking the Golbat and a beam of light shop up and stop in the middle of the soaked Golbat and a Shiny Luxray Materialized. Ash suddenly knew what was in the pool. The Luxray used discharge, frying the Golbat as the wave of electricity expanded. The Luxray landed on the roof, grabbed a backpack, jumped onto the rafters and then onto the pool deck. Then several Pokémon surfaced in the pool. An Empoleon, a Swampert, a Feraligatr, a Samurott, and a Greninja, all Pokémon they didn't recognized. Then a Blastoise surface and lying on its back was Matt. He moved his goggles onto his forehead and spat out his pokegill. "Wewww, what a rush! I wonder where I landed this time." he said as he sat up and saw Ash, Brock, Misty, and Daisy staring at him. "And now considering who I'm looking at, I know." He stood up and gave Blastoise a little tap with his foot and he started moving towards them. He hopped off and pressed a button on his pokéball holster. "What's up?" he asked the four stupefied young people.

The Pokémon in the pool returned to their balls and Matt used his selection system to select a new Pokémon. He took of his jacket and outer shirt and started ringing them out. "It's been a while hasn't it guys," Matt said as he finished ringing out his shirt and jacket. He then dropped them on the pool deck and used his Pokémon selection system to pick a Pokémon and it beamed in to him. "Misty who is this?" Daisy asked her younger sister. "Oh this is Matt Zomerfeld. We met him in Viridian City," Misty answered. Daisy's jaw dropped. "The Matt Zomerfeld? As in the World Champion Matt Zomerfeld?" She asked. Matt answered this time. "The one, and only," he said and released the Pokémon he had just selected. A Charizard materialized from the ball. "Heat Wave big guy, low temp," he told Charizard. The orange dragon flapped his wings and a warn wind blew through and dried the rest of Matt's clothes and hair. "Matt what was with the dog fight up there?" Brock asked as he pointed toward the sky. "Oh that," Matt said as he gave Charizard a thumbs up to stop, his hair was a mess. "Well I've made no shortage of enemies in my life," he said as he pulled out what looked like a switch blade knife. He pressed the release on it and a comb popped out. As he started to fix his hair, he explained. "Remember when I said I've taken out ninety percent of the grunts in Team Rocket? Well that is true. There are a lot of people who have failed at their less than legal activities and want revenge. That or it's one of the crackpot bounty hunters trying to take some of my more rare Pokémon," he said as he finished and put the comb away. He pointed up, "That specific group of Golbat belong to a bounty hunter who has been trying to take my shiny Gengar." "Wow, can we see it?" Asked Ash. "Sure," Matt answered as he selected it in the transfer system. A transfer beam hit the gauntlet and found its way to a pokéball. He took the pokéball off the holster and pressed the release. Out came one large white Gengar with a big sinister smile. "Wow, I've never seen a Gengar like this!" Brock said enthusiastically as he examined Gengar, obviously invading its personal space. Gengar decided it had had enough of that and used Psychic to pick up a Brock and throw him into a pile of inflatables. "Gengar!" Matt yelled at the Pokémon in scolding tone. He pressed the return on his holster and returned the Pokémon. They all ran over to Brock who had just managed to dig his way out of the pile. Matt offer Brock a hand, "You all right?" "Yeah," he answered.

"I have got to say it's been awhile since I've been here. What's it been three years?" He asked Himself taking in his surroundings. As he looked around he noticed Daisy was in the same place he had been since he introduced himself. She was sitting against the wall with her mouth agape and eyes wide. Matt pointed at her while looking at the others and said "Been quite a while since I've had that effect on a person." He walked over to her and knelt down on one knee, looked her in the eye and snapped his fingers in her face. She reacted immediately, grabbing him by the shoulders shaking him while bouncing up and down shaking him. "Oh my gosh! I can't believe it! The Pokémon World Champion is in my gym!" She cheered. Matt quickly got tired of this very quickly and Luxray saw this. The intimidating Pokémon walked up behind Daisy, touched her with the end of his tail, and gave her thirty volts. Her body shook from the shock and her hair blew up into an afro. When she put her hand on her head and realized what happened to her hair she screamed and ran out to fix her hair. Ash, Brock, and Misty all watched as Daisy ran off. Matt and Luxray just laughed, "Ha-ha, classic Luxray." Brock noticed Matt's gauntlet seamed different. There was a tube on it with a small opening, about the size of a pokéball when it's in its smaller form. "Hey Matt, what's that attached to you glove?" Brock asked. "Oh my latest invention, the pokélauncher. It allows you to deploy a Pokémon from a greater ranger than you could by just throwing it. Its how I got Luxray up in the middle of those Golbat," Matt explained.

The four decided to walk through the aquarium as they continued talking and Misty explained her predicament with her sisters. "Heh heh, ya your sisters have always had a thing for the dramatic," Matt said. "But they just assumed that I would do it, and now they're pressuring me to do the show," Misty complained. "Well they never did have any respect for other people's plans, but you have to remember gyms often need outside sources of revenue to keep running," Matt said. "But this is crazy. Mean have you read this script?" She asked as she shoved the script in Matt's chest. Matt took the script in one hand and used the other to push his glasses up his nose. He quickly flipped through the script and looked at Misty. "To tell the truth, I've read worst," he said handing it back to her with her eyes wide in surprise. "Don't get me wrong. It's sappy as maple tree and not my taste but, it might just draw a crowd," he said. "Look Misty, one of the many jobs I do in life is I inspected gyms to make sure they are up to code. Part of that is going over cash income from the gym's side business and the cerulean gym's income has been steadily declining. A show like this might draw a new crowd," "But I can't stay and do the every night! I like traveling with Ash and Brock!" Misty complained. "You know I might have a solution. A few years ago I met a pretty good play write and we kept in touch. He boasted he could write a play in two days that could get a standing ovation. He might be able to write a new show for your sisters so you can leave, and I might know a few willing performers," He said. When Misty heard this she was over joyed, "Really, you think you can do that?" she asked. 'Very few people can turn me down," Matt said. "However, your sisters are expecting a crowd for tomorrow's show and it will take me a while to coordinate everything. You're going to have to do at least one show," Misty was less than thrilled "Oh come on!" she complained. "Look Misty, performing is art and I consider myself an artist and as performing artist say 'the show must go on,'" Matt Said. "Artist? You? What kind?" Misty asked. "A battle artist. When I battle I put on a show, a true display of power and skill. Remember the Voltaic tornado from the last time we met?" "Oh yeah that was amazing," Ash said. "That was training and skill in the art of battle," Matt said. "Look Misty, the gym needs money to stay open and this show is how you get it." "Oh fine," Misty said in defeat. "But only one show." "That should be enough time," Matt said. Misty stomped of to tell her sisters the arrangement. "You realize Misty wants to throw you to a Gyarados right?" Brock asked Matt. "Don't worry the rocky head of yours. I've learned how to learn a lot about people in a short amount of time. I knew she would do anything, no matter how much she doesn't want to do it to protect this gym. Heck, she would probably swim through a pool of caterpie if it would save this gym," Matt said. "So the gym is really endanger of going broke?" Ash ask. Matt smirked and turn to the door, "Another skill I've developed over the years is being an excellent liar," he said as he left to make arrangements.

It was all set Matt had arranged for new performers to be flown in and had his writer friend hard at work writing a new show. When Misty's sisters heard Matt's deal they bounced up and down like little school girls in happiness. Misty was still less than thrilled. She really didn't enjoy her sisters fussing over her while getting her ready for the show. When they were finally down Misty hopped out of her dressing room already in costume. When Matt saw her having trouble moving on land while wearing the mermaid tail, he called up his Alakazam and offered to have him use psychic to help her get around which she thanked him for. The psychic Pokémon used psychic to lift her a few inches into the air so the tail wouldn't drag. "Just tell him where to you want to move to," Matt said as he ran off to check the lights. Matt was incredibly efficient at just about anything from lights to special effects and boy could he coordinate. He had his Pokémon running all over checking things and moving stuff. The show was still and hour away and people were already showing up. When Matt saw all the people waiting outside he knew they were getting more impatient by the minute. He found Daisy and suggested they start letting people in. He told daisy he could entertain the people while everyone finished preparing. She agreed and they let people in to take their seats. Violet's voice came over the sound system, "Ladies and gentlemen please take you seat. The show will be starting soon, in the meantime please enjoy a display of skill and coordination by Pokémon World Champion Matt Zomerfeld." Matt stepped out on the high platform and grabbed a pokéball off his holster. "Floatzel, show time!" he yelled. His Floatzel materialized mid-air and dove head first into the pool already spinning its propeller tail. "Hydro pump," Matt commanded. Floatzel rocketed up out of the water and pointed its head towards the water. It shot a constant hydro pump at the pool keeping it in midair and then lifted its legs above its head. The audience applauded. "Arctic Rocket maneuver. Aqua jet," Floatzel stopped the hydro pump and dove into the pool. Floatzel used aqua jet and was enveloped in water while charging at high speed. He shot out of the water and back in leaving a stream of water behind him. "Ice beam," Matt commanded. A sphere of freezing energy formed in front of Floatzel's mouth. Floatzel concentrated and controlled the energy. He then used it to freeze himself in the aqua jet except for his tail. He propelled himself around the pool doing tricks. "Whirlpool drill," Matt commanded. Floatzel flew up out of the water and used his own strength to break the ice around him. He then turned upside down and used whirlpool. The large vortex of water formed and then Floatzel used aqua jet down through the center of the whirlpool and kept traveling, pulling the whole whirlpool with him. He made impact with the water making water droplets fly everywhere. "Ice beam," Mat ordered and Floatzel fired a beam freezing all the droplets into snowflakes and then froze himself a platform and landed on it. The audience applauded in fascination. Children were reaching out to catch the flakes across the stands. Matt and Floatzel waved to the audience and Floatzel shattered his platform if ice and Matt recalled him.

Matt walked back stage happy with his work. "Well I think the crowd is officially riled up," he said as he walk up to the others. "Matt that was amazing, I've never seen someone use moves like that, let alone that Pokémon," aid Daisy. "Like I said. I am an artists, and battle is my art," He said as he went to find Misty. She was in her dressing room, he knock and popped his head in. "Curtain in five minutes," he told her. Misty sighed, "Right. Alakazam if you would please." Alakazam used psychic and floated Misty out of the room. Matt Walked with her. He obviously could see she was having second thoughts. They got to the latter to the diving platform for Misty's entrance. Alakazam floated Misty up while Matt climbed the latter. When they got up there Matt checked the crowd. Misty was getting nervous and started chewing her nails. Matt walked up to her and took her hand she was chewing her nails on and looked her in the eyes. "Hey, just take a breath and have fun with it. Preforming is like a jumping into a cold pool, you're reluctant at first but once you dive in you feel fine," he said. Misty smiled telling him he had had the desired effect. He let go of her hand and started down the latter but came back to the top quickly. "Almost forgot. Break a fin," he said with a smile, amused by his own joke and the slid down the latter. Lily ran up to him when he reached the bottom "Oh, she's not getting cold feet is she?" Lily asked in a worried tone. "She was but I fixed that," He said with a smirk as he walk away.

The lights dimmed and the pool raised out of the floor with transparent sides for the audience to watch. A recording Daisy's voice came over the speakers and began narrating and Misty made her entrance. She dove in and started playing with the Pokémon, occasionally swimming out of sight to use her pokegill to catch her breath. Everything was going fine, but Matt felt something was wrong. He started looking around backstage when he heard something moving in a closet. He opened it to find Violet and Lily tied up. He quickly untied them. They said they were attacked by a man and a woman with a Meowth. Matt needed no more explanation.

He found the others and told them the situation. "What do we do," Daisy asked. Just then the recording introduce Violet and Lily's characters. However instead of the Team Rocket wearing terrible costumes enter. "Ah! Now what do we do?" Daisy ask hysterically. When Matt saw this he knew what had to be done. "The show must go on," Matt said as he gave Daisy an earpiece and a CD. "Daisy get to the audio booth and narrate the show. I'll tell you what to say through that and play the CD when I tell you. Ash, Brock you're with me," Matt said as he ditched he jacket, outer shirt, shoes, and glasses. He put on a pair of goggles and a pokégill and gave pokégills to Ash and Brock. 'Matt what are we doing?" Brock asked as they climbed the latter. 'Do you two both have water types?" Matt asked. "I do but Brock Doesn't" Ash answered. Matt threw Brock a pokéball. "It's Floatzel, I told him to listen to you. I'll keep Team Rocket busy. You two get in the pool without the audience noticing, find Misty and the three of you get all the Pokémon out of the main pool then seal it off," he told them. They nodded to him in agreement.

Misty had already realized what team rocket was doing and started fighting with Starmie but it wasn't going well. The speaker system crack while Daisy was switching it from the recording to the microphone. Matt started telling Daisy what to say. She began narrating, "The mermaid princess did her best to protect those who she cared for but was not faring well. But then, from out of nowhere came a brave warrior of the sea ready to help." Matt dove in and deployed Greninja and order a hydro pump attack. Greninja fired the stream of water but Team Rocket dodged it. Ashe and Brock had managed to slip into the pool and grabbed Misty. They gave her a full pokégill and explained the plan.

Jessie's Arbok charged and tried to use wrap but Greninja easily dodged it by vaulting off a reef. However, as he flew out of the way Arbok used poison sting. "Greninja, hydro pump downward," Matt commanded. Greninja pointed its mouth toward the bottom of the pool and fired. The hydro pump propelled Greninja at and incredible speed up and out of the pool past the roof, luckily it was open. As Greninja was doing this, Matt took another pokéball from his holster and deployed Empoleon. He grabbed onto Empoleon's back and rode him like an underwater motorcycle. He rode Empoleon up and flew out of the water. "Empoleon hydro cannon, Greninja follow with night slash," he commanded. An orb of glowing water formed at the end of Empoleon's beak. Empoleon cocked its head back and then threw the orb and dove back into the pool. As this happened Greninja slammed its palms together and then slowly drew them apart forming a blade of dark energy. He took the blade with both hands and as if pushing off of the air, lunged at Arbok in the pool. The hydro cannon hit the bottom of the pool kicking up a cloud of sand from the bottom of the pool, blinding team Rocket. Then Greninja followed, slashing Arbok with night slash knocking it out. Misty swam up to him through the dust cloud and told him all the Pokémon had been evacuated from the pool and Ash and Brock were outside the main pool sealing it off from the rest of the aquariums in the gym. Matt decided it was time for the finale.

He pulled Misty onto Empoleon's back and recalled Greninja. He ordered Empoleon to swim in circle around Team Rocket to gain speed. As Empoleon gained speed a vortex formed, forcing Team Rocket into the ground. Matt then told Empoleon to swim up out of the water. They flew up and out of the water high into the rafters. "Misty grab the rafter!" Matt yelled at her as he recalled Empoleon. As the emperor Pokémon dematerialized, Matt and Misty kept flying up and grabbed onto the rafters and pulled themselves up onto them. "Luxray Thunder!" Matt ordered. Luxray was standing on the diving platform. His body became enveloped in electricity and shot a constant bolt of electricity into the sky. Black cloud began to swirl into one giant thunder cloud and then one giant lightning bolt struck the pool electrifying it. Matt put his hand on Misty's eyes before the bolt struck and closed his own to keep from being blinded. Team Rocket bob to the surface, still conscious but seizing from the electricity they had been hit with. "Volt Tackle!" Matt ordered from the rafters. Luxray jumped forward off the platform, his body already charged with energy. He ran so fast he literally ran on the surface of the water. Luxray made impact leaving a trail of electricity behind him and sent Team Rocket flying out of sight. "We're blasting of again!" the group yelled as they flew into oblivion. Luxray came skidding to a halt on a platform at the far side of the pool. The crowd applauded with great enthusiasm.

Matt smiled and looked at Misty. "Let's go," Matt said as he grabbed two pokéballs from his holster. He grabbed Misty's hand and jumped, pulling her with him. On the way down Matt released the Pokémon in the pokéballs. Empoleon materialized under Matt and he grabbed on. Under Misty a Blastoise materialized and she grabbed on. They all dove in perfectly and surfaced. Misty surfaced sitting on Blastoise's shell waving to the crowd. Matt came up standing on Empoleon's back waving to the crowd and released several foreign Pokémon to dazzle the crowd. Greninja, Samurott, Swampert, and Feraligatr swam around in the tank impressing the crowd. Matt signaled Brock and Ash to let the other Pokémon back into the pool. All the Pokémon flooded in and swam around happily. Matt had Empoleon pull up to Misty and he hopped onto Blastoise. He gave his Pokémon a few hand signals and they shot up hydro pump attacks like a big fountain. The crowd gave a standing ovation and the lights dimmed signaling the show's end. Matt tapped Blastoise's shell and they moved towards the platform that Luxray was on and recalled his Pokémon. Matt stepped off and called up Alakazam to help Misty down. "Nice work big guy," Matt complimented Luxray as he petted the Pokémon.

They went backstage to find Ash, Brock, and Misty's sisters. "That was amazing!" Daisy cheered. "How did you come up with all of that on the fly?" asked Violet. "How did you get Luxray to run on water?" Lily asked. "Ladies please," Matt said raising a hand signaling them to stop. He used Charizard's Heatwave to dry off and put his jacket, shoes, glass and hat. "That's just how I operate," he said as he pushed his glasses up his nose. The next day Matt got a call from his writer friend that he had finished writing the new show and e-mailed it to Matt. Matt printed it out and gave it a quick read. It need more explosions in Matt's opinion but, it would serve its purpose. Matt walked into the pool room and yelled "It's here!" Ash, and Misty were in the pool playing with the Pokémon and Brock was sitting on bleachers going through his cook book. When they heard Matt they all ran over. Even Misty's sisters heard him and ran in. "It really here? Already?" Daisy asked. "I told you my buddy was fast and the new performers should be here in a couple of days," he answered. "Show anyway. Did we make enough money to save the gym?" Misty asked. "Save the gym?" Violet asked. "Save it from what?" asked Lily? "Foreclosure from money problems," Misty answered. "What are you talking about? We aren't having money problems," Daisy said. "But Matt said. Maaattttt!" Misty said in anger. Matt had a feeling his white lie wasn't going to last. He was surprised it had lasted this long. "Yeah, about that," Matt said and started running away. Misty charged after Matt and chased him around the pool. Good thing he had already packed his bag. He grabbed his bag during the chase and ran past the roof controls and opened the roof. Misty chased Matt up onto the high dive and had him cornered. "You lied to me, why?" Misty demanded as she slowly approached him. Matt took a step back towards the edge. "To tell the truth, I really wanted to see you in that tale," he answered. This pushed Misty over the edge. Misty lunged at him. Matt step back off the platform followed by Misty. However, he had released Skarmory when Misty wasn't paying attention. Matt had grabbed Skarmory's talon while Misty flew past him and belly flopped into the pool. Skarmory swung Matt up onto its back. Misty surface and yelled "I going to get you Matt!" "By the way Misty, it was so worth it to see you in that tail! See ya guys!" he yelled back and with one strong flap of Skarmory's wings, he was gone.

**End Chapter**


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